Best Moments

The best of this trip was staying with friends, but it was really amazing to learn about the Brazilian history and to see the works of art.We really enjoyed each moment.

Tips

Do not wear sandals to walk on the streets of the cities, on the end of the day your feet will be really bad. Always watch your steps or you will easily fall down. In the mines be careful not to hit your head on the ceiling, and you should always wear a helmet!

Where to go/What to see

Church São Francisco de Assis

Santuary Bom Jesus do Matosinho

 Inconfidencia Museum

Church Nossa Senhora do Pilar

There are lots of churches all over the cities, but the most important and beautiful ones are: Church São Francisco de Assis, Church Nossa Senhora do Pilar and Church Matriz de Santo Antonio. It’s very important to visit the city of Congonhas to see the Santuario de Bom Jesus do Matosinho, there is a beautiful church there, with twelve statues made by Aleijadinho, they are called the twelve apostles and it is really amazingto see  the perfection of the details in all the twelve statues. In this Sanctuary there are 6 chapels that show us the steps of Jesus on Earth. In Ouro Preto it is important to go to the Museu da Inconfidencia that shows the history of the state of Minas Gerais, these museus are located in the beautiful square in Tiradentes. We went to two mines called Mina da Passagem and Mina do Chico Rei, they are really amazing mines, it’s really interesting to see them.We went to  Casa dos Contos, a huge house that belonged to João Rodrigues Macedo a very rich man that had a lot of slaves. In that house we saw a place where the slaves lived. There we saw two amazing people: Celia and Tião Paineira.

Where to eat/What to eat

In Ouro Preto we ate in a restaurant called Casa Dos Contos, they  serve typical mineira food, with pasta, meat and lots of more! We had dinner in the Hotel Providencia, and ate more typical food. For breakfast  we had a delicious pao-de-queijo(a bread made with cheese)! In Congonhas dos Campos we ate in a steak house called “Churrascaria Zé Dias”, they had a delicious meats, with a buffet with lots of typical dishes! In Tiradentes we ate at the restaurant “Divino Sabor”, a delicious restaurant with strogonoff , potatoes, and a lot more.In Tiradentes we ate in a restaurant called “Panelas de Minas” where they served good food.

Where to stay

In Mariana it is better to stay in a hotel than in an inn, we stayed in Hotel Povidência that used to be a house for nuns and where there are big rooms and up to 6 people can sleep in each of them. In Tiradentes we stayed in two different inns, the first one is called Pousada Pouso das Gerais, it is a small inn but very cosy, there's a swimming poll, and the most important: it is near the square, right in the center of the city. The other inn is called Ponta do Morro, it is bigger than Pouso das Gerais, and there is air conditioning in the rooms a bigger poll and a toboggan! This one is in the front of the square and it’s a really good one!

What to take

You should take clothes for  both hot and cold weather, warm coats and pants for the night, a pair of jeans  will be useful. Take some leggings to wear during the day because it is warm and  they are good to go jogging, believe me you will need to walk a lot! Always take a backpack with you with a coat and things that you think will be necessary in it, be careful there are churches that you CAN’T enter wearing shorts. Take a pair of tennis shoes to walk during the day and boots to go into the mines. You can take another pair of sneakers or sandals to wear at night. Take a pair of sunglasses because the sun is really strong there, and wear sunblock. Don’t forget the insect repellent!

Location

All the historical cities are located in the state of Minas Gerais that is in the southeast of Brazil. The capital of Minas Gerais is Belo Horizonte that is located near the central area. Ouro Preto is located in Serra do Espinhaço and 100km away from Belo Horizonte, Mariana is 15km away from Ouro Preto, and 130km away from Belo Horizonte. We stayed 2 hours in the bus to go to Congonhas dos Campos, and the city of Tiradentes is 164km away from Mariana, 202km away from Belo Horizonte.

Weather

There are a lot of mountains around the region of all theses cities. Because of that  the air is cold and  there is fog. In Ouro Preto the weather is hot and wet during the summer and in the winter it is really cold and there is fog all over the city. We visited the cities during the winter. In the morning  it was really cold, really hard weather to wake up early, in the afternoon  it was usually hot, and at night it was really cold again. The weather in Marina and Congonhas dos Campos was the same as Ouro Preto, because they are really close cities.Tiradentes is really hot during the afternoon and really cold at night.